Ugandan Olympian killed by ex-boyfriend to be buried

Ugandan Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who was set ablaze by her former boyfriend and later died, is because of be buried in a state funeral on Saturday.

Dickson Ndiema attacked her with petrol just below a fortnight in the past exterior her residence in north-west Kenya, near the place she educated.

The 33-year-old’s killing, and its brutal nature, left her household distraught and shocked many others internationally.

It underscored the excessive ranges of violence in opposition to ladies in Kenya and the truth that a number of feminine athletes have been victims in recent times.

Cheptegei died in hospital 4 days after the assault. Medical doctors mentioned she had suffered burns on greater than 80% of her physique which “led to multi-organ failure”.

Ndiema, who was additionally burned after a few of the gasoline splashed on his personal physique, died on Monday.

He attacked the mother-of-two after she returned from a service at a church, the God’s Dwelling Ministry.

The pastor there, Caroline Atieno, remembers a “great… God-fearing particular person”.

After listening to about what had occurred, she managed to talk to Cheptegei on the cellphone whereas she was in hospital.

The athlete first requested about her youngsters, who had been each advantageous, the pastor informed the BBC’s Africa Day by day podcast.

Then Cheptegei talked about her attacker: “You imply Dickson shouldn’t be in a position to see all I’ve carried out for him? He couldn’t bear in mind even one or two issues I’ve carried out for him and cease setting me on hearth? Why has he carried out this to me?”

Cheptegei’s funeral is being held in Bukwo, residence to her household in Uganda and near the Kenyan border.

On Friday, members of the family, pals and activists in opposition to gender-based violence seen her coffin at a funeral residence within the Kenyan city of Eldoret, earlier than it was pushed away.

Her mom, Agnes Cheptegei, protecting her face in anguish, was sporting a memento bag that the athlete acquired on the current Paris Olympics, the place she got here forty fourth within the marathon.

She was wearing a T-shirt which had the slogan “being a lady shouldn’t be a loss of life sentence” printed on it.

The mother-of-two was the third feminine athlete to be killed in Kenya during the last three years. In every case, present or former romantic companions had been named as the primary suspects by police.

In 2021, world-record holder Agnes Tirop was stabbed to loss of life and 6 months later Damaris Mutua was strangled.

Assaults on ladies have develop into a significant concern in Kenya. In 2022 a minimum of 34% of girls mentioned they’d skilled bodily violence, based on a nationwide survey.

Some observers are saying that feminine athletes have gotten more and more susceptible.

“[This is] as a result of they go in opposition to conventional gender norms the place the girl is simply within the kitchen and simply cooking and caring for youngsters. However now feminine athletes have gotten extra unbiased, financially unbiased,” mentioned Joan Chelimo, who co-founded Tirop’s Angels to assist spotlight the difficulty of violence in opposition to ladies.

“We do not need this to occur to another girl, whether or not an athlete or from the village, or a younger lady,” Rachel Kamweru, a spokesperson of the federal government’s division for gender and affirmative motion, informed the BBC.

When Cheptegei first received into operating, she joined the Uganda Folks’s Defence Forces in 2008 which helped help her.

Her final race was on the Paris Olympics. Though she got here forty fourth folks in her residence space nonetheless referred to her as “champion”.

She gained gold on the World Mountain and Path Working Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2022.